The 10 Best Premier League Transfers of 2013/14 Season: Part Two

Here is part two of the top 10 Premier League transfers this season. This top 10 list isn’t necessarily the top ten best players, it is the best purchases and factors such as their transfer fee, impact for their new club, do they stand out in their new team and was they a needed purchase for their club, are all factored into this list.

The Ivory Coast striker attracted interest across Europe with his impressive goal tally last season for Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem scoring 37 goals from 32 appearances. Swansea enjoyed a successful season under Michael Laudrup finishing 9th and winning the League Cup thanks to the goal scoring surge from Michu where he scored 22 goals over last season. He has only featured in half as many games this season and the goals have dried up to only 6 in all competitions this season. Bony has scored 13 league goals this season and the powerhouse has proved to be a vital part of the Swansea squad scoring the goals that was needed this season. He is lethal in front of goal and that combined with this strength make a deadly combination, and you can only see the player improving in the future. Swansea’s position next season could be a very different scenario had Bony not been purchase last summer.

4. Loïc Rémy: QPR – Newcastle United Season Long Loan

The French international striker didn’t have enough time to make an impact last season in the English game, but this season Remy has proved his worth. It’s hard to believe that Remy would have ever worn a Newcastle shirt after he turned down the chance to play for Newcastle last year in dramatic fashion and instead sign for bottom side QPR. Though Newcastle fans can’t really complain with his impressive goal tally this season scoring 13 goals in 24 appearances. Remy’s campaign this season has been plagued with injuries both at the start of the season and after Christmas but was one of the majoring factors in Newcastle’s 33 point total on January 1st this season. Since then Remy has only made four full 90 minute appearances in the league and Newcastle have been struggling for goals, only managing 13 points since the start of 2014. Remy’s importance on the pitch has helped Newcastle achieve Premier League status next season from their impressive first half to the season but had he not been signed then it’s likely that you really would be worrying for Newcastle’s survival at this point in the season.

3. Christian Eriksen: Ajax – Tottenham £11m

Eriksen has been the only transfer worthy of recognition in the Tottenham squad that saw big money players head into the club last summer to make up for Gareth Bale’s big money move to Real Madrid. The likes of Eric Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Paulinho and Chadli have all failed to impress during the course of the season and had it not been for Christian Eriksen then all of the Bale fortune would have vanished into thin air. The Danish attacking midfielder is a playmaker that built up an impressive reputation at Ajax and after this season the £11m price tag attached to Eriksen last summer looks as though it was at a fraction of the price to what his talent is worth in this day and age. He has scored 7 times this season from 22 appearances, getting 8 assists along the way and has been the only bright spark in a very dull Tottenham side this season, with the only exceptions being Hugo Lloris and Adebayor’s revival under Tim Sherwood. Eriksen has pulled the strings in many of Tottenham’s games this season and created two of Spur’s three goals on the weekend against Fulham. Eriksen is a fantastic player but a player of his quality will be wanting to play Champions League football, something that Spurs will miss out on this as they currently sit 6th in the Premier League. Eriksen won’t be one of the players Tottenham fans would want to see departing the club in the summer.

2. Gareth Barry: Man City – Everton Season Long Loan

Barry is a player that doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves as the majority of his performances go unnoticed. Barry is a vital edition to Roberto Martinez’s squad after his summer loan move to Everton and has been the rock in the centre of midfield that is needed in any side looking to play European football next season. He is a fantastic passer of the ball, a great tackler and very versatile when it comes to positions in midfield, though this year he has played the holding midfielder role the majority of the time that has allowed the likes of Ross Barkley to break through into the side in an attacking midfield role. Barry’s contract expires at the end of the season and Man City should look to extend his contract as this is position that they lack depth in, especially at the moment with the injury of Yaya Toure as Javi García doesn’t have that extra something that is required from a title wining side. Barry has featured 30 times in the league this season for Everton and even if they aren’t able to pip Arsenal to the final Champions League spot then I’m sure Europa League football on top of a fantastic seasons for The Toffees is enough to entice Barry to make his loan deal into an permanent one next year and one that he is guaranteed regular first team football with.

1. Romelu Lukaku: Chelsea – Everton Season Long Loan

Lukaku is a lethal finisher with enough strength to trouble any defence in Europe. The 20-year-old Belgium striker is another Belgium talent that has emerged over the past few years and will be a key player at the World Cup this year for his national side. Lukaku looked certain to break though into the Chelsea side after the 17 goals he scored for West Brom last year, but Chelsea again offloaded the striker on loan but this time it was Everton who secured his services for the year. It’s unclear if Lukaku has a future at Chelsea but with the goal tally he continues to build on in the Premier League and the lack of goals Chelsea’s forwards have been able to score this season its seems bizarre that the forward won’t be in a Chelsea kit next season. Some people have stated that he isn’t a Mourinho player, but he is more of an attacking threat compared to the likes Torres, Eto’o and Ba. Lukaku has scored 13 times this season and another factor into the impressive season that Everton have had. Everton invested well all season with bringing in the likes Lukaku, Barry, Deulofeu, Aiden McGeady and James McCarthy, but Lukaku has been the standout and after his second impressive season in the Premier League he has proved that he could fit into many of Europe’s top sides.